


Golden Boy

by Cookies_and_Chaos



Category: Famous Five - Enid Blyton
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cookies_and_Chaos/pseuds/Cookies_and_Chaos
Summary: With Julian set to leave for university, Dick wonders if he might finally be free of the weight of expectation.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Golden Boy

"You don't have to do that, you know", Dick crossed his arms and frowned when he saw Anne packing Julian's suitcase.

Anne didn't reply, she just kept steadily and carefully packing Julian's t-shirts, shirts and trousers. Julian had gone out with their parents earlier to buy some last minute necessities. Their mother had pulled Anne to one side before hand and spoken to her. Ever since, Anne had been packing Julian's belongings into his cases. 

Dick raised an eyebrow at George who pulled a rather childish face before replying, "I've tried telling her already".

"Mother told me I must help, so I'm helping", Anne said stiffly, her voice tight and knotted like every other time she had been trying to hide that she was upset.

Dick sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. The sleeves of his jumper pulled taught and stopped an inch short of where they did mere weeks ago. Their father wasn't going to be pleased he'd had another growth spurt. Dick saw more of Julian's hand-me-downs in his future, along with comments about how he doesn't look _"quite so grown-up"_ as Julian in them.

"What did she say, Anne?", Dick asked gently.

Anne's shoulders shuddered slightly as she put the pair of trousers in her hands down into the suitcase. Then she lifted her head and raised her chin slightly, her look of defiance coming across as more petulant than intended.

"It doesn't matter. I must do it and then it'll be done. Then come Sunday...", Anne frowned and turned her concentration back to the suitcase.

"On Sunday, Julian goes off to university", Dick finished for her and sat on Anne's bed beside George.

After sitting in silence for a few, horribly uncomfortable minutes, Dick caught his cousin's eye and nodded towards Anne then the door. George shrugged so Dick did it again, more insistently this time. 

"Come on Anne, let's go get some lemonade and then we'll finish this up together", George got up from the bed and went over to the door, "I want to see how Timmy's doing as well, it's awfully hot and he can't seem to find anywhere to get cool".

"I should probably-", Anne started and Dick interrupted her.

"I'll do some while you're gone. It's not fair for just you to be asked to help", Dick got off the bed and helped Anne up despite her protests.

Dick knelt down in Anne's place after they were gone and finished folding the trousers Anne had started on. All new clothes for Julian's next adventure. Nothing but the best. Never anything but the best. Dick forced himself to be careful; as much as he wanted to just do a haphazard job of it, Anne would be the one to take the blame if he did. So he placed the trousers on top of the other clothes and moved onto the jumpers. Dick wondered if he would see those again in a year or two, when Julian had tired of them or had been bought new ones.

Dick hated complaining, even to himself, about the hand-me-downs because it made him sound dreadfully snobbish. It wasn't that he disliked the idea or didn't like getting the clothes, actually, he thought it was jolly sensible to pass along perfectly good clothes until they wore out. No, it was _how_ they were passed down to him. The way he was sized up against Julian in every which way and always found lacking. The way that his father looked him up and down as though Dick didn't even deserve to have Julian's hand-me-downs.

Footsteps and chatter from the stairs pulled Dick out of his thoughts and he hurried to fold another jumper so no-one would suspect he had been distracted. He grinned when he saw Timmy, getting on a bit now but as bright-eyed as he'd ever been, trotting faithfully beside George.

"Straight from the fridge", Anne entered the room with two glasses of lemonade and handed one to Dick, "Try it, it's delightful!"

"Thanks", Dick accepted the glass and took a sip, "Let's get this done with then, shall we? Then we can go down to that bakery you like Anne and buy a few buns, I've still got a bit of money from the work I did last week".

Anne sat down beside Dick and began folding some more clothes, George sat in the empty space beside her and only grumbled a little at having to help. Timmy flumped down in the corner furthest from the window and lay watching them. Dick glanced from Anne to George and wondered if everything would be different come Monday.

"Come on dreamy", Anne nudged him, "you said you'd help".

"Right, of course", Dick grinned and he snatched up a pair of trousers.

Perhaps things might even be better...


End file.
